


She-Ra, Horde Commander

by Uniasus



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-09-05 22:46:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16819972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Uniasus/pseuds/Uniasus
Summary: Finding a sword in the Whispering Woods launches Adora's career in the Horde. It's proof that what Hordack has been telling her has been true all along, and it's the power to make his cause a success.





	1. The Sword

**Author's Note:**

> I'm just full of ideas for this show.

“Adora, what is that?” Catra said from behind her.

“Don’t you know a sword when you see one?” Adora asked her friend. Granted, it was unusual to find a sword, still sharp and polished, tangled in overgrown roots in the middle of an enchanted forest. But the Whispering Woods wasn’t a normal place and Adora found herself not caring about peculiar things when the sword called to her.

“I’m not sure you should touch that,” Catra continued when, of course, Adora touched it.

Instantly, the small clearing covered burst into light and Adora heard an echoy voice in her head.

_“Balance must be restored. Etheria must seek a hero.”_

_“Adora, Adora,_ Adora!”

The last call of her name snapped her out of it. Adora found herself looking into Catra’s heterochromic gaze and frantically trying to hold on to the images she’d just seen. A planet. A giant moonstone. A lush wood. A sword. A strong woman with glowing eyes. And another woman garbed in blue.

“Hey, Adora?” Catra called again.

Adora shook her head and smiled at her best friend. “I’m fine, it didn’t hurt me.”

“You sure?” Catra took Adora’s face between her hands, smushing her cheeks. “You blanked out for a good two minutes. Maybe the tree gave you brain damage.”

Adora shook Catra off. “It'll take more than a tree branch to the forehead to give me brain damage.”

“Eh, I don’t know. The skiff was going pretty fast.’

Adora glared at Catra, who smirked in a way that showed off her fangs, before looking at the sword in her hands. Gone were the roots. Adora lifted the naked blade up, surprised by its weight and awed by its balance.

The blade itself was almost as long as Adora’s entire arm, the cross guard a pair of sweeping gold wings bigger than her fist. And where the guard met the hilt was embedded a brilliant blue stone.

“This is an awesome sword,” Adora exclaimed. “I’m gonna keep it.”

“What? No way. You have to share it, we found it together!”

“Oh no. I found it by myself. Besides, it called my name.”

Catra grabbed Adora’s face again. “You sure you’re not brain damaged?”

“Yes, Catra,” Adora mumbled. “My brain is fine.”

“Hmph,” she said before letting go. “At least let me hold it.”

Reluctantly, for the sword was _hers_ dammit, Adora held it over. There was no flash of light as Catra took it, sniffing the metal and the stone, tapping her claws on the jewel.

“It’s heavy,” Catra said, giving it back.

“Well, if you wouldn’t skip the days we’re in the weight room-“

Catra flapped a hand in Adora’s face. “Whatever. Come on, we should get back to the Fright Zone before anyone notices we’re gone.”

* * *

They manage to get back without anyone noticing they had left, though the missing skiff had been. Still, a bit of patience and timing had them easing it into the hanger unspotted and then they slunk through the shadows back to their bunk.

The only problem was Adora’s new sword. She had the strange, strong sense that she should keep it hidden. No one in the Horde should know she had it. She tried to shake the feeling off but did have to admit the logic of hiding evidence of sneaking out.

“We can find a hiding place later,” Catra hissed as Adora contemplated an air vent. “It’s late, they know someone took a skiff, and I’d really like to sleep sometime tonight. Just stuff it in your locker. We can move it tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Adora said. She wrapped in cleaning rags, then shoved it into the back of her locker behind her workout clothes and spare energy weapons. “There. Now, let’s go to bed.”

“Finally,” Catra said, throwing her hands up.

* * *

Adora went to sleep easily enough, the thin blanket and Catra, a warm, purring ball curled by her feet, were familiar comforts. But she startled awake at the sound of her name echoing in her head.

“ _Adora! Adora!”_

It was the same voice, the same blue clothed woman, that had filled her head before when she touched the sword. And even now, while she was awake, she could hear her voice.

“ _Balance must be restored! Etheria needs its hero!”_

Gone was the informative tone from before. The woman pleaded.

“ _Adora! Adora!”_

Pulling her knees up to her chest, Adora clutched her hands over her ears and pressed them to her skull. She wanted the voice to stop!

“Hey, Adora?” Catra was there, prying at her hands and making soft soothing noises. It was late, they didn’t want to wake up the rest of the dorm. Especially not with a show of weakness. “Hey, Adora, what’s wrong?”

“It’s the sword,” Adora whispered back. “It’s talking to me, Catra.”

“Swords can’t do that.”

“Well, this one does!” Adora snapped at her friend.

“ _Adora! Balance! Hero! Adora!”_

Adora sprang out of bed, muttering a quick “I gotta go” over her shoulder. Not unexpectedly, Catra scrambled after her.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“If the sword wants to have a conversation with me, we’re having a conversation and then I’m going to sleep. I have Force Captain orientation tomorrow! I can’t risk falling asleep in that! Or missing something important.”

“I still think it’s important to point out that your sword is talking to you.”

“I already know that, Catra.”

“It doesn’t worry you? What if it’s princess magic, corrupting you?”

Adora stopped short. “I – I mean, princesses are evil. Violent. We all know that. And they’re horrible at controlling their powers. But they don’t fight with weapons, they have _magic._ ”

“Who’s to say one of them didn’t put a curse on this sword to trap you?”

“Catra, how would they even know we would be in the Whispering Woods tonight? I don’t think a princess would curse a sword like that. Besides.”

“Besides, what?”

“It’s calling my name, Catra. What princess knows that?”

Catra said nothing, tail twitching agitatedly while she power walked next to Adora.

“Still sounds like magic. Maybe we should give it to Shadow Weaver.” Catra sounded like she hated her own idea.

“ _Adora! Hero! Adora!”_

Adora wobbled. The voice in her head sounded frightened. Painful. Catra caught her.

“You okay?”

“The sword really wants to talk,” Adora ground out.

 _Or maybe,_ Adora thought as they entered the locker room, _it had been saying a warning. Or calling out in fear._

Because one of the scariest people in the Horde, Shadow Weaver, stood in the locker room. And in her hands laid Adora’s new sword.

“Adora, care to explain where you got this?”

Adora swallowed, throat dry. “I, I just found it.”

“Here, in the Fright Zone?”

“Er, yes. In one of the scrap piles lying around. I thought it looked cool.”

Shadow Weaver didn’t say anything and her red mask made it impossible to read her face. The sorceresses gaze flickered from Adora to Catra and back to Adora. Adora tensed, waiting to be called out on the lie. For Catra to be blamed for this, somehow. But none of that happened.

“It came to you,” Shadow Weaver said.

“I simply found it, Shadow Weaver.”

“ _Adora!”_

Adora tried to keep her face still, but couldn’t manage a blank expression. Shadow Weaver shot out one of her shadow strands of hair and Adora felt the grip of it on her chin. Next to her, Catra tensed.

“It calls to you,” Shadow Weaver said. She shook Adora. “What does it say?”

Adora’s eyes widened. Shadow Weaver never hurt her, never. As if sensing the mistake, the sorceress used the shadow tendril to gently stroke Adora’s face. “What does it say, dear child?”

“It,” Adora flicked her gaze to Catra who jerked her head in the sorceress’s direction, “It calls my name. Says balance needs to be restored.”

“Ah. Is that all?”

“I, I see two women. One in blue. Another in white.”

Shadow Weaver went still. Then, she smiled and it took all of Adora’s training not to flinch. “Come with me to my workshop. Both of you.”

She turned, and after a sharing a worried glance, Adora and Catra followed the sorcerer. It was best to go willingly.


	2. Chapter 2

Adora and Catra stood against the wall while Shadow Weaver walked back and forth in front of them, the sword laid out in her hands.

“Tell me, Adora. Tell me everything the sword has said to you. Everything it’s shown you.”

Adora swallowed but did as asked. “It said balance needs to be restored. That Etheria needs a hero. And my name. The two women, a city with a giant moonstone. A…a circle in the air, that looks like your shadows.”

Shadow Weaver glared at her, the tendril creeping out of her dress tangling and growing. “Do you know what any of that means?”

“No.” Adora pressed her back against the wall behind her as Shadow Weaver grew taller. “No, that’s all she said?”

“She?”

Shadow Weaver reached out a pointed finger and touched Adora’s forehead. Red sparks traveled from Shadow Weaver’s hand into Adora’s mind. Adora grit her teeth, biting the inside of her lip till it bled as the woman who raised her riffled through her most recent memories. After an eternity, the sorceress pulled away. Not allowing herself to give into the pain, Adora stood up straighter.

“I had other plans for you, Force Captain Adora,” Shadow Weaver said, placing a hand on the Black Garnet, “but it seems the universe has its own plans.”

The girls looked at each other, unsure how to react.

“Do either of you know what that sword is?”

“No, Shadow Weaver,” Adora and Catra said.

“It’s an old weapon, designed to give great power to those worthy of wielding it. We thought it lost to time, but for it to be found by _you_ Adora....well, I always knew you were special.”

Adora didn’t answer.

“The balance the sword speaks of is exactly what Hordak and the Horde have been seeking. We strive to return the correct balance to Etheria. The princesses, with their magic, have ruined the planet, and the source of their magic are giant gems. The stone you saw.”

Adora nodded. 

“This sword has the power to transform its wielder into the champion, the hero, Etheria needs. And it has chosen you, Adora.”

“Really?” Her? Etheria’s hero? As soon as she pinned the Force Captain insignia on her jacket, she’d dreamed of doing her part to squash the monstrous princesses. To defeat the rebellion.

“Yes, Adora. This is a role only you can have.”

Adora ignored Catra’s scoff, all her focus on the sword Shadow Weaver held out of Adora to take. Drawn to it, Adora touched the hilt.

A flash filled her mind and Adora found herself in a cracked crystal room. The woman in blue stood before her.

_“Hello, Adora. I am Light Hope. I’ve been waiting for you, but couldn’t reach you until you forged your connection with the sword. The Sword was meant for you. Etheria has need of you, Adora. Will you answer it’s call? Will you fight for the honor of Greyskull?”_

Adora frowned. She fought for the honor of the Horde.

_“Adora. Will you fight for the honor of Greyskull?”_

She could ask Shadow Weaver about it later.

While Adora couldn’t see it, her eyes on Light Hope, she felt her hand grasp the hilt of the sword. She pulled it out of Shadow Weaver’s grasp, held it above her head, and said: “For the honor of Greyskull.”

Instantly, her body felt warm. She felt taller, heavier, her hair pulled on her scalp. Cold metal touched her skin: at her mid-calf, her forearms, her forehead. She snapped her eyes open in surprise.

There, reflected in the red facets of the Black Garnet, stood Adora. A taller Adora, a bulkier Adora, with defined thighs and biceps. She wore a short white dress with athletic shorts, with armored boots, reinforced shoulders, and bracers. There was a winged circlet on her head, a red cape flowing from her shoulders, a long, wind-swept length of blonde hair. She also _glowed gold._

“Like this, you are She-Ra, Defender of Etheria.” Shadow Weaver walked to stand behind Adora. She grew, taller, darker, and the sword in Adora’s hand’s flashed as Shadow Weaver wrapped a hand around the hilt. “Let it go, Adora.”

But she didn’t want to. She felt her new body’s own desires, to crouch and slash at the sorceress. To point her sword at the stone before her and –

Adora screamed as one of Shadow Weaver’s tendrils twisted her wrist. She dropped the sword, turning back into plain old Adora, falling to her knees to clutch her wrist to her chest. Shadow Weaver swept in to pick up the sword.

“It’s a powerful, magical tool, Adora. You’ll have to train to control it. I’ll find you tomorrow, so we can begin.”

“Yes, Shadow Weaver.”

“Now leave.”

The door to the room opened. Catra rushed to Adora’s side to help her up and together, they left the room.

* * *

The pain in her wrist didn’t damper Adora’s excitement. “I turn into She-Ra, Defender of Etheria!” she whispered shouted. It felt unreal, and she didn’t know how public Shadow Weaver wanted this knowledge to be. Simply saying it aloud made Adora wonder if her new role would melt into the air.

“You looked like a sparkly princess,” Catra snorted.

“I did not! I looked, I looked cool, and strong, and _amazing.”_

_“_ That was very much a tiara on your head.”

“It was a headband, like yours. You’re just jealous the sword called to me.”

“Yeah, no.” Catra’s tail flicked back and forth. The jerkiness of it made Adora realize that her friend was lying about something.

“You are jealous!” Adora accused.

“I am not!”

“Then what?”

Catra looked over her shoulder, towards the closed door and Shadow Weaver behind it. “That sword is _magic,_ Adora. It transformed you, _spoke in your head._ I don’t have good experiences with things getting into my mind.”

Adora sobered. She knew exactly what Catra was talking about. Everyone knew Shadow Weaver could access minds; she’d rifled through Adora’s memories not ten minutes previously. What no one knew was the extent of what she could do – after all, it was a little-known secret Shadow Weaver took memories.

The current rumor was that Shadow Weaver could use magic from the crystal because she was an elemental princess who saw the ways of Queen Angella were false. But she could never get over the corruption of magic. Magic picked away at Shadow Weaver’s mind and body; she wore a mask to hide her hideous face, glided on shadows because her legs didn’t work, and was scary because her morals were gone.

If Adora’s new sword was magic, would she become like Shadow Weaver? She clutched her arms around her and shivered. “I don’t want to turn into Shadow Weaver.”

“You won’t.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Adora was glad now Shadow Weaver had kept the sword. There was still good in the woman, she was probably doing her best to ensure that Adora’s corruption was slow. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense, that a sword that gave her the ability to bring balance to the world could be bad, but Adora’s didn’t understand magic.

Still, _Defender of Etheria._ A thrill went through her body at the words. She was special, had been given a role no one else could hope to fulfill.

Adora. She-Ra. Hero of the Horde, who would give those monstrous princesses a taste of their own magic.

She smiled as she fell asleep, Catra curled over her feet.

* * *

An hour after the night shift began, Shadow Weaver glided to Hordak’s throne room. He sat waiting for her; Imp most likely warned him of her approach.

“It’s late, Shadow Weaver,” he said.

Shadow Weaver bowed in apology. “I believe you’d want as few as possible to know about a discovery by our newest Force Commander.”

“You’re talking about the Sword of Protection.”

Shadow Weaver glanced at Imp. She’d been able to stop him from entering her chambers, but he had free range of the rest of the compound.

“Yes. It has come to Adora.”

“Why do you sound so disappointed? Is that not why we stole a child from Eternia? Hoping that the tech on Etheria would call to a soldier we could mold?”

Shadow Weaver let the shadows at her feet curl while she worked out an answer. “As nothing has happened before now, I had assumed our plan hadn’t worked and have been developing alternate plans for Adora. Adjusting them will be...complicated.”

“And what plans are those?” Hordak sounded bored. Shadow Weaver couldn’t tell if he already knew or not.

“Developing a successor,” Shadow Weaver said, “Few can connect with an elemental stone. Those who can must be royalty, and even then, only certain bloodlines would work.”

“And Force Captian Scorpia can’t fulfill this role?”

“Her family has rejected the Black Garnet. It will not connect with Scorpia.”

“You have two princesses in your care, Shadow Weaver. One of Eternia, one of Ethernia. Surely, if one won’t work the spare will.”

Shadow Weaver ground her teeth. “I’ll need to evaluate Catra. Adora has shown to have the ability to develop a resonance with the Black Garnet. As for Catra...I have yet to determine if she can. “

“See that you do, Shadow Weaver.”

**Author's Note:**

> Don't expect super fast updates to this - slowly rewatching the show to solidify headcanons and characters while taking notes - but I'll probably also do a few more one-shots in relation to my rewatch. Because Bow cannot leave Kyle hanging like that.


End file.
